Can having a tear strip closure



May 9, 1967 w. L. ROBERTS CAN HAVING A TEAR STRIP CLOSURE Filed July 8, 1964 INVENTOR. WILLIAM L. ROBERTS A f forney United States Patent 3,318,495 CAN HAVING A TEAR STRIP CLOSURE William L. Roberts, Murrysville, Pa., assignor to United States Steel Corporation, a corporation of Delaware Filed July 8, 1964, Ser. No. 381,037 2 Claims. (Cl. 222541) This invention relates to an improved can-end construction to facilitate opening the can.

An object of the invention is to provide an improved two-ply can end, the outer ply of which can be peeled away to open the can without need for any sort of tool.

A more specific object is to provide an improved twoply can end, the inner ply of which has preformed pouring openings, and the outer ply of which has score lines defining a portion to be peeled away for uncovering said openings.

In the drawing:

FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a can, the end of which is constructed in accordance with my invention; and

FIGURE 2 is a section on line IIII of FIGURE 1.

The drawing shows a can of tin plate or like coated metal which is conventional apart from the construction of the end. The can includes a body 10, illustrated as cylindrical, an end member 12, and the usual seam 13 joining the end to the body. In accordance with my invention, I form the end 12 of inner and outer plies 12a and 12b bonded together. The inner ply 12a is thicker than the outer ply 12b and has one or more openings 14 for pouring liquid contents from the can and venting the can. The outer ply 12b has two score lines 15, which extend along each side of the openings, and two transverse score lines 16 and 17 which connect the score lines 15 near opposite edges of the can end. The portion of the outer ply bounded by the four score lines forms a strip 18. The end of strip 18 adjacent the score line 16 is separated from the inner ply 12a to form a tab 19. Preferably I wind the tab and apply a plastic coating to enable it to be grasped readily. To open the can, it is necessary only to grasp the tab 19 with ones fingers and peel back the strip 18 along the score lines 15 and finally break oil the strip at the score line 17. This action uncovers the openings 14, whereby liquid contents may be poured from the can.

The thicker inner ply 12a typically has a thickness of about .008 inch and the thinner outer ply 12b a thickness 3,318,495 Patented May 9, 1967 of about .002 inch. Conveniently I make the assembly from which I cut the ends by ply-rolling two tinplate strips initially about .016 inch and .004 inch thick respectively. I punch the openings 14 in the one strip before the plyrolling step and cut the score lines 15, 16 and 17 in the other after ply-rolling. The ply-rolling bonds the two plies fairly tightly, yet allows them to be separated by peeling.

While I have shown and described only a single embodiment of my invention, it is apparent that modifications may arise. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to the disclosure set forth but only by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A metal can having an end wall comprising an inner tinplate ply, an outer tinplate ply bonded to said inner ply, said inner ply being thicker than said outer ply and having at least one preformed opening, said outer ply having two score lines extending along opposite sides of said opening and a third score line connecting the two firstnamed score lines near the edge of the wall, the portion of said outer ply bounded by the score lines forming a strip which covers said opening, a tab formed integrally with said outer ply by winding a portion of said strip remote from said third-named score line, and a plastic coating over said tab and within the winding, which tab can be grasped for manually peeling the strip back along the two first-named score lines and breaking it off at the third-named score line, thus separating the two plies in the area covered by the strip and exposing said opening, but leaving said inner ply intact.

2. A metal can having an end wall as defined in claim 1 in which said inner ply has a plurality of openings covered by said strip.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,568,437 1/1926 Bach 222--541 2,094,600 10/1937 Hothersall 222-541 2,653,732 9/1953 Land 222-541 3,159,303 12/1964 Betner 22054 FOREIGN PATENTS 498,664 1/1939 Great Britain.

WALTER SOBIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A METAL CAN HAVING AN END WALL COMPRISING AN INNER TINPLATE PLY, AN OUTER TINPLATE PLY BONDED TO SAID INNER PLY, SAID INNER PLY BEING THICKER THAN SAID OUTER PLY AND HAVING AT LEAST ONE PREFORMED OPENING, SAID OUTER PLY HAVING TWO SCORE LINES EXTENDING ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID OPENING AND A THIRD SCORE LINE CONNECTING THE TWO FIRSTNAMED SCORE LINES NEAR THE EDGE OF THE WALL, THE PORTION OF SAID OUTER PLY BOUNDED BY THE SCORE LINES FORMING A STRIP WHICH COVERS SAID OPENING, A TAB FORMED INTEGRALLY WITH SAID OUTER PLY BY WINDING A PORTION OF SAID STRIP REMOTE FROM SAID THIRD-NAMED SCORE LINE, AND A PLASTIC COATING OVER SAID TAB AND WITHIN THE WINDING, WHICH TAB CAN BE GRASPED FOR MANUALLY PEELING THE STRIP BACK ALONG THE TWO FIRST-NAMED SCORE, LINES AND BREAKING IT OFF AT THE THIRD-NAMED SCORE LINE, THUS SEPARATING THE TWO PLIES IN THE AREA COVERED BY THE STRIP AND EXPOSING SAID OPENING, BUT LEAVING SAID INNER PLY INTACT. 